Fiona surprised us yesterday morning with a little bull calf - a week early. She gave birth in the wee hours of the morning. Rhiannon went out to the pasture to check on Fiona and came running with the news. Naturally she had him waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out in the pasture and we knew when we saw Rhiannon running back that something was up. He's a really pretty calf.
Brad brought the calf up to the barn in the tractor wagon around 5 last night and put him in the manger of the stall where we milk. Fiona was a bit nervous when she first came in (mostly I think because Dorothy always pushes her out of the barn). Once Fiona settled down and started to eat her grain, Brad proceeded to milk her. She lifted her leg once and wiped the machine off, but it was not really a kick, she just scraped the machine off. After that she stood like a pro - even after her grain was gone and she only had hay to eat. I think she was just so happy to have the pressure in her huge udder relieved.
What a GOOD girl. She does not seem to mind us handling her calf or anything either. I guess spoiling our cows has paid off in the long run. They are really just big pets who happen to give milk.
So far she is doing great. I was worried she might not be so easy to milk at the start, but if this first milking was any indication, I think she'll be just as good as Dorothy - who does not care where she is milked. I am very pleased that we are able to leave Dorothy's calf with her, just locking her up at night, when we need the milk in the morning. I hope that we might be able to do the same with Fiona as well - but we will see how that goes.
Mother and son are doing well, though he did lead us on a merry chase this morning. He decided to wander away and take a nap. We looked for hours and finally Robert found him laying in the bushes. What a scare. He is penned now where Fiona can lick him, but he can't wander away. We'll let him out several times a day to nurse.
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